Abstract
The typical jejunal villus is tongue‐ or chisel‐shaped, in which the lacteal is axial, the artery paraxial and the vein lies near one of the lateral borders. The artery forms a T‐junction with the specially wide marginal capillary at the tip which distributes blood to the greater part of the subepithelial capillary plexus. This plexus is so dense that no epithelial cell is more than 30 μ away from the blood stream. The higher density of the plexus in the tip reflects the higher functional capacity of the epithelium there and the plexus in the base of the villus is less dense in keeping with the lower functional capacity of the basal epithelium. The veinbegins in a manner which does not suggest the presence of an arterio‐venous anastomosis.